Welcome in the new month with our picks for the best fiction, nonfiction and celebrity memoirs
From novels about an immigrant family in turmoil, a time-worn sibling story and a widow whose misdeeds haunt her — plus new celebrity memoirs — here are PEOPLE's picks for the best books of October 2024, so far.
'Be Ready When the Luck Happens' by Ina Garten
The celebrity cook's long-anticipated memoir reveals a new side to the Food Network star. Writing of her difficult and "very lonely childhood," meeting her husband Jeffrey and the journey that led her to becoming the beloved TV personality and cookbook author she is today, Garten presents her story with warmth, honesty and heart.
'Love Can't Feed You' by Cherry Lou Sy
In this gorgeously written, shattering debut, teenager Queenie arrives in New York City with her brother and her elderly Chinese dad to join her Filipina mom and be a family. But intergenerational trauma, her parents’ rigid expectations and insurmountable odds tear apart the household and bankrupt their American dream. As her brother acts out, Queenie finds herself struggling to eke out a living all her own. Deeply compassionate and devastating. — Caroline Leavitt
'Shred Sisters' by Betsy Lerner
Beautiful daredevil Olivia is the star of the Shred family, but as she goes off the rails, her parents and younger sister Amy struggle for balance. As told by Amy — the smart, quiet one — over two decades, this heartfelt novel reveals the power of the sibling bond to shape our lives. — Marion Winik
'The Sequel' by Jean Hanff Korelitz
Anna got away with killing her author husband in 2021’s The Plot, and now she’s relishing his royalties and writing bestsellers of her own. But the past, as they say, is never really dead. When Anna’s history resurfaces, there’s hell to pay. Korelitz fans will eat up this satirical, bookish suspense. — Kim Hubbard